LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) – After seven months of construction prolonged by rain, golfers have already made their way back to the Crown Colony Golf Course.

The course opened in 1979, and Head PGA Professional Ben Burns says it needed upgrades if they wanted to keep it open any longer.

“It was just slow, and we are extremely fired up about seeing our golfers back out here. We may not be in the best shape, but they always say, ‘I love that layout. I love that layout, you need to get it back to where it was,’ and that’s what we’ve done,” said Burns.

Burns says the surface underneath the greens had worn out, and at every golf course that material must eventually be replaced.

“Just fabulous, just absolutely fabulous, to have a facility of this quality in a town of this size. You just don’t see that,” said Country Club member Roy Guse.

As a member of the Crown Colony Country Club since 1997, Guse is excited to play on a new course with new challenges.

“The greens are different. The shapes are different; they’ve put bunkers in places I’d regret because I hit the balls in those places. It’s going to be a whole new experience,” said Guse.

Burns said golfers can expect less sand traps on the under 7,000-yard course. He said where you play a shot may change, but they tried to keep their original course design as much as possible.

“Now, we can maintain those traps easier. When it rains, we don’t have 50 traps to take care of, we only have 38,” said Burns.

The course’s original architect, along with the architect who led the upgrades and other dignitaries, hit the opening shots, solidifying a project that lasted through the rain and the golf course that grew through it.

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